Hatboro man remains defiant with judge regarding his appeal

NORRISTOWN – A Hatboro man imprisoned for a gunpoint home invasion robbery in Horsham remained defiant with a judge who offered to appoint a public defender to represent him in his appeal of his conviction.

“I don’t even know why you’d call me down here to ask me that,” Ayodele Gabriel Oke, 23, of the 300 block of York Road, told Montgomery County Judge Joseph A. Smyth when Smyth asked Oke if he’d like a public defender’s assistance with his appeal to the Pennsylvania Superior Court.

“There’s been a serious constitutional violation. I don’t have anything else to say but that. I’m going to preserve all those issues for appeal,” Oke said flatly.

Smyth repeatedly advised Oke about his right to have a public defender assist him with his appeal, but Oke refused to answer the judge’s questions regarding the offer to appoint a lawyer to represent him. Therefore, Oke will continue to represent himself on appeal.

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Smyth informed Oke that he will be held to the same standards that a lawyer would be held to before the Superior Court.

Oke has repeatedly claimed the trial against him was “unjust” and “outrageous,” often bellowing “objection” during various court hearings.

In January, Smyth sentenced Oke to nine years and one month to 43 years and 11 months in a state correctional facility after a jury convicted him of charges of robbery, possessing a weapon with intent to employ it criminally, recklessly endangering another person, burglary, criminal trespass, unlawful restraint and theft by unlawful taking in connection with the 11 a.m. April 3, 2011, home invasion in the 100 block of Chestnut Street in Horsham.

A 22-year-old Horsham man testified during a three-day trial last May that he was at home at the time and eventually was able to flee from the home and call police. The robbery netted Oke $185, according to testimony.

Oke chose to represent himself at trial and at his January sentencing hearing, although the judge appointed a public defender as “standby counsel” for Oke during those hearings.

Assistant District Attorney Jesse King sought a lengthy prison sentence against Oke, arguing he was convicted of a violent crime that involved a firearm and is a danger to society.

Oke is the same man who in November 2011 defiantly called the judge “insane” as he expressed displeasure when the judge ordered he be evaluated for competency. Nothing in those evaluations revealed anything that prohibited Oke from proceeding to trial.

During pretrial hearings, Oke, who also listed addresses in Upper Moreland and Warminster, repeatedly implied that the court system was corrupt, that the judge didn’t have authority over his case and that the actions taken against him were unconstitutional.

Horsham police alleged that during the home invasion Oke was not satisfied with the estimated $185 the victim gave to him and threatened, “I’m about to start lettin (sic) off shots.” Oke allegedly closed curtains in the home and insisted he was going to shoot the victim, according to the arrest affidavit filed by Horsham Police Officer Robert Waeltz.

Prosecutors alleged Oke pointed a 9mm Smith & Wesson semiautomatic handgun at the victim’s head during the robbery.

As the victim descended stairs in the home with Oke, he managed to run out a front door and to a neighbor’s home for help. Oke, who fled in a car parked outside the home, was apprehended by police several days later.